Appearance

• Their eggs are pearly white and only 1mm long
• Immature bed bugs are also only 1mm long and are a pale color; almost translucent
• Adult bed bugs are about 1/4 inch long and are reddish-brown

Activity

An infested mattress is wrapped up for transport (to the dumpster)

• Bed bugs are nocturnal
• Bed bugs are not limited to the bed or bedroom and will disperse throughout a dwelling
• Bites do not hurt, but leave red marks

Food

• They feed exclusively on blood
• A bed bug may go several days to a week or more between blood meals
• Bed bugs are very resilient and survive for many months without a blood meal

Life cycle

• Females can lay 1-5 eggs per day
• Eggs hatch after 7-10 days
• Egg hatch to adult stage takes approximately 1.5 - 2 months (but can take longer depending on environment and food)

Want to know more?

Read even more about bed bugs on Wikipedia and view this bed bug factsheet [PDF].